iPhone 14 turning inReach into dodo...

[ttn333]

I don't see it surpassing InReach and GlobalSat phones among regular overlanders, off shore sport fishers, sailors, or any other frequent off grid enthusiast. In those markets generally the gear is well established and purpose driven and the people in the know probably already have something.

Where this will find its biggest target market are folks who occasionally go off grid and get accidentally lost and SAR teams need to find them. For that alone, it is an incredible feature and will save lives.

Fortunately for Apple the market for the latter is much larger than the former. It's actually excellent for weekend warriors and the like. I haven't owned and iphone for a decade and this might put me back into apple eco. I really like the look of their new ultra watch as well. Might actually replace my fenix. My older eyes can use a brighter screen.

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[BourbonRunner]

Fortunately for Apple the market for the latter is much larger than the former. It's actually excellent for weekend warriors and the like. I haven't owned and iphone for a decade and this might put me back into apple eco. I really like the look of their new ultra watch as well. Might actually replace my fenix. My older eyes can use a brighter screen.

Don't get me wrong, I think its great and I certainly would use it if I needed in an emergency situation. And to your point about weekendIt would be perfect for a weekend warrior like me as well.

I'm not really an InSight target demo. Not much heavy duty off grid overlanding in the Mid Atlantic. Having this is an extra layer of safety for even driving around Western Maryland and breaking down, on Assateauge, or West Virginia.

 

[19Delta]

The real question is, when will Samsung or another Android company bring something similar to market?

 

[ttn333]

The real question is, when will Samsung or another Android company bring something similar to market?

Here you go. Won't be too long. No extra equipment it looks like.
https://www.nextpit.com/spacex-t-mobile-direct-satellite-internet-smartphone-5g-us

 

[fourfa]

The real question is, when will Samsung or another Android company bring something similar to market?

https://www.androidauthority.com/huawei-mate-50-3205547/

 

[smlobx]

I have used the InReach for the past 6 or 7 years in some very remote places in Africa and Asia. It has worked remarkably well. I am also a long time Apple user.

In my mind the new phone will not have the capability like the InReach does for emergencies. You will physically have to “point” the phone towards a moving satellite using an app and then what happens when that satellite goes over the horizon?

Also, there will not be 2 way comms with people back in civilization which we use a lot when on our longer trips. As an example here’s the map showing our latest trip to the most northeastern point you can get to in NorthAmerica by vehicle as well as many other places. Each point with a ballon shows the location where we checked in with our family. Almost all of them were well out of cell range too. It is very easy to reach out to someone back home with the InReach and the monthly fee while out on the road is minimal..

 

[HooliganActual]

I think this is a much more real threat to InReach/Spot than the iPhone. From what I read it'll be for general communication, not just emergency....

It's tracking feature is great for my wife to see where I'm at in the backcountry or for us to send messages back and forth....

I think that the new iPhone will/could be great for these communications and for emergency signaling depending on what features it actually has when it goes to market or even with further iOS updates. The tracking will be nice depending on the detail it provides; however, with my inReach, my wife has literally texted me "You've been stopped for over 30 minutes, are you okay". She can do this because of the inReach's timestamping which I haven't seen/heard will be part of the Apple functionality.

I don't see it surpassing InReach and GlobalSat phones among regular overlanders, off shore sport fishers, sailors, or any other frequent off grid enthusiast

Where this will find its biggest target market are folks who occasionally go off grid and get accidentally lost and SAR teams need to find them.

+1, I couldn't agree more. Both of my inReach devices can do so much more than just text, send an SOS, show my position.

I have used the InReach for the past 6 or 7 years in some very remote places in Africa and Asia. It has worked remarkably well. I am also a long time Apple user.

+1, I started out 10(?) years ago with one of the original Delorme InReach Explorers (it's actually still in a box in the garage...memorobilia, LOL). The various inReach devices have soooo much more capability. I have a Mini now that I use for backpacking and a Tread Overland XL for when I am overlanding. The Tread is a beast! When you look at the features that it has, I think it will be a while before Apple, Samsung, etc. could start to incorporate those into their devices.

Additionally, some have commented about T-Mobile/Starlink and how it will fare in all of this. Currently, they only provide satellite coverage for CONUS while inReach is covered by a global satellite network. Until Elon gets some more satellites in space, the inReach devices will still serve you everywhere else.

 

[BourbonRunner]

Flew out to CA for the week and spent a decent amount of time in Point Reyes, and frankly driving. Most of PR doesn’t have reception and it was in SOS mode. Didn’t need it but it was interesting to see it on the screen.
Same goes cutting those mountain passes between valleys/civilization.

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